With Initial U.S. Airstrikes A Success, Will They Expand?

Peshmerga fighters inspect the remains of a car bearing an image of the trademark jihadist flag, after it was targeted by an American airstrike in the village of Baqouba, north of Mosul. The car reportedly belonged to Islamic State militants

Ahmad Al-Rubaye
/ AFP/Getty Images

Listen

Listening...

/

Originally published on August 23, 2014 12:21 pm

Pentagon officials announced still another U.S. airstrike in Iraq on Friday. Fighter and attack aircraft hit Islamic State armored vehicles and machine guns.

That makes nearly 100 U.S. bombing runs in the past few weeks, and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said that enabled Iraqi and Kurdish forces to fight the group — also known as ISIL — around two northern Iraqi cities.

So U.S. airstrikes were critical, but Hagel said the U.S. military is only part of the solution.

"The defeat of ISIL is not only going to come at the hands of airstrikes. It's bigger than just a military operation," he said.

That has left some analysts scratching their heads. If the Islamic State is such a threat and U.S. airstrikes are having success, then why not expand the scope of the airstrikes?

Ryan Crocker, former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, says the U.S. should target the Islamic State wherever they are, not just in northern Iraq.

"People are starting to get it here that they ... [are] really dangerous," Crocker says. "Since they erased the Iraq-Syria border, we should take them up on that and go after them in Iraq and Syria."

Officials say there are no plans to strike Islamic State targets in Syria, where the U.S. is already fighting a proxy war against the regime of Bashar Assad, but White House aide Ben Rhodes would not rule out bombing runs there.

The administration also has to decide whether to broaden its airstrikes inside Iraq. Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula, who designed the air campaign for the 1991 Persian Gulf War, says to defeat the Islamic State, sharply increase airstrikes.

"This would involve not a handful of strikes per day, but hundreds of strike sorties per day," Deptula says.

He says the situation in Iraq is similar to the early days of the Afghanistan war, where U.S. air power was crucial in blunting advances of the Taliban, allowing the Northern Alliance forces to defeat them.

"We've been here before and I'm kind of amazed we haven't had more of a discussion with the kind of model I'm talking about," he says.

But Pentagon officials say they don't want that model. They don't want to become the Air Force for Iraq, because they say this fight is different and it is largely due to political missteps by Iraqis.

Competent Iraqi officers were dismissed, because of suspect loyalty. That led to a crumbling of the army in the face of the Islamic State advances. So now the U.S. is helping rebuild the Iraqi army.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, pointed to another reason for the Islamic State success: Those militant fighters found support from the Sunni populations in both Iraq and Syria, who were either marginalized or under attack by their own governments.

"ISIS will only truly be defeated when it's rejected by the 20 million disenfranchised [Sunnis who] happen to reside between Damascus and Baghdad," Dempsey says.

Until that happens, the U.S. strategy — despite its rhetoric — is simply to contain the Islamic State.

Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, I'm Audie Cornish.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

And I'm Robert Siegel. We're going to begin the hour with the American response to Islamic State fighters on the move in Iraq and Syria.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SAMANTHA POWER: This is the new front of the terrorist threat and one with a devastating human cost.

CHUCK HAGEL: They are an imminent threat to every interest we have, whether it's in Iraq or anywhere else.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: From governments and peoples across the Middle East, there has to be a common effort to extract this cancer so that it does not spread.

SIEGEL: President Obama, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power. That is tough language, and it's been especially amplified this week since the killing of American journalist James Foley. But U.S. military action has been cautious and limited. Here's NPR's Tom Bowman.

TOM BOWMAN, BYLINE: Pentagon officials announced still another U.S. airstrike in Iraq today, a fighter in an attack aircraft hit Islamic State vehicles and machine guns. That makes nearly 100 U.S. bombing runs in the past few weeks. And Secretary Hagel said that enabled Iraqi and Kurdish forces to fight the group, also known as ISIL, around two northern Iraq cities.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

HAGEL: American airstrikes and American arms and assistance helped Iraqi and Kurdish forces blunt ISIL's advance around Erbil and helped the Iraqis retake and hold Mosul dam.

BOWMAN: So U.S. airstrikes were critical. But Hagel said the U.S. military is only part of the solution.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

HAGEL: The defeat of ISIL is not only going to come at the hands of airstrikes. It's bigger than just a military operation.

BOWMAN: That has left some analysts scratching their heads. If the Islamic State is such a threat and U.S. airstrikes are having success, why not expand the scope of the airstrikes? Ryan Crocker is a former U.S. ambassador to Iraq. He says the U.S. should target the Islamic State wherever they are and not just in northern Iraq.

RYAN CROCKER: People are starting to get it here that these guys are really, really dangerous. Since they erased the Iraq-Syria border, we should take them up on it and go after them both in Iraq and in Syria.

BOWMAN: Officials say there are no plans to strike Islamic State targets in Syria, where the U.S. is already fighting a proxy war against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. But White House aide Ben Rhodes would not rule out bombing runs in Syria.

BEN RHODES: We're actively considering what's going to be necessary to deal with that threat. And we're not going to be restricted by borders.

BOWMAN: The administration also has to decide whether to broaden its airstrikes inside Iraq. Retired Air Force Lieutenant General Dave Deptula designed the air campaign for the 1991 Persian Gulf War. He says if you want to defeat the Islamic State, sharply increase airstrikes.

DAVE DEPTULA: This would involve not a handful of strikes per day, but hundreds of strikes (unintelligible) per day.

BOWMAN: Deptula says the situation in Iraq is similar to the early days of the Afghanistan war. U.S. air power was crucial in blunting advances of the Taliban, allowing the Northern Alliance forces to defeat them.

DEPTULA: Well, we've been here before and I'm kind of amazed that we haven't seen more discussion with the kind of model I'm talking about.

BOWMAN: But Pentagon officials say they don't want that model. They don't want to become the Air Force for Iraq because they say this fight is different. And it's largely due to political missteps by Iraqis. Competent officers were dismissed because of suspect loyalty that led to a crumbling of an army in the face of the Islamic State advances.

So now the U.S. is helping rebuild the Iraqi army. Joint Chiefs Chairman General Martin Dempsey pointed to another reason for the Islamic State success - those militant fighters, also called ISIS, found support with the Sunni populations in both Iraq and Syria who were either marginalized or under attack by their own governments.

MARTIN DEMPSEY: ISIS will only truly be defeated when it's rejected by the 20 million disenfranchised Sunnis that happen to reside between Damascus and Baghdad.

BOWMAN: Until that happens, the U.S. strategy, despite its rhetoric, is simply to contain the Islamic State. Tom Bowman, NPR News, Washington. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.